printThey’ve erected only an “unfinished skeleton” of the “One World Trade Center,” 11 years after the twin towers were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001.” Even FoxNews concedes that the “milestone is a preliminary one.”
And we are not told how long this thing took to build.
Still, there’s an enormous fuss already. Everyone involved is being hailed as a hero. (No doubt, interviews are being lined-up, and current-events programs are dispatching their equivalent of Diane Sawyer to solicit a tear fest.)
About the original structure, Myron Pauli, our unorthodox pal and BAB contributor, wrote:
Call me jaded or unsentimental” … “but the World Trade Towers were ugly Rockefeller buildings built by the abuse of eminent domain [my friend’s dad lost his job at a private firm there], and taxpayer theft and operated at a great loss to the taxpayers. They were known mainly for a dreadful remake of King Kong. While I mourn the loss of 3000 Americans, I am not about to elevate the Towers into the Beit Hamikdash (The Temple in Jerusalem).
Meantime, with no fuss at all, “200 workers constructed a 30-story building in China’s Hunan Province in a little more than two weeks.” The industrious man behind this project says his insta-skyscraper will “withstand a 9.0-magnitude earthquake,” and is built to the “highest environmental standards.”
Gives one a perspective …
UPDATED: It took 8 years to build the thing. Heard it from Lou Dobbs’ mouth.
so much for American excellence!
I start thinking about the Fountainhead when I hear of this World Trade Center crap …. How many Peter Keatings does it take to change a light bulb?
By the way, the Empire State Building was erected in one year. One can also look at the privately constructed New York subways done very quickly compared to some of the more recent megabillion cost-overrun fiascos of public transit.
Thanks for quoting me – but I think Ayn Rand would have had something more elegant to say about our modern day mediocre monuments….
[Myron, Nell, above, didn’t appreciate your irreverence.]
The promo video shows what looks like a main core structure with a lighter outer frame. Didn’t they learn anything? An office fire could bring the thing down on itself!
Call me jaded or unsentimental” … “but the World Trade Towers were ugly Rockefeller buildings built by the abuse of eminent domain [my friend’s dad lost his job at a private firm there], and taxpayer theft and operated at a great loss to the taxpayers. They were known mainly for a dreadful remake of King Kong. While I mourn the loss of 3000 Americans, I am not about to elevate the Towers into the Beit Hamikdash (The Temple in Jerusalem).
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Would the Chrysler Building have been better suited to your taste for mourning or the elevation of structures? The terrorists obvious lack of style in brushing off Art Deco in favor of bland financial symbolism was a major faux pas which cannot be forgiven.
To top it off the Chrysler Building has a much cleaner history but those terrorist obviously failed on the research.
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I am not into monuments like this. Yes, it is horrible what happened there on that site, but I don’t care if anything is built there or not. I just don’t think it matters. I would have much rather the United States responded in the proper way to the attacks and dealing with airport security in a proper way instead if being politically correct and infringing on civil liberties.
I’m with Mr. Pauli! This all strikes me as symbolism over substance, as if this is some kind of renaissance of liberty and American greatness, whatever that means anymore. The thing is, we were great – once – when we truly valued liberty and freedom over ostentation.
This strikes me uncomfortably as trying way too hard to convince ourselves that we are still “the land of the free and home of the brave.” Of course the “America” on display here in New York City really isn’t my America in any real sense; so they can do whatever they want.
I’ve never been among those timid souls afraid to do something for fear of some enemy attack. But, everybody better be ready for anything because the sons of the desert are going to go all out to destroy this new “symbol”.
The destruction of the towers pales in contrast to the consequences now being experienced by the American people at the hands of privileged “Americans”.
The replacement is merely another foolish symbol for a list of adjectives that reflect on the poor quality of the country’s leadership.
The replacement structure is nothing but a distraction, a trivial illusion to keep the hoi-polloi feeling good about their pathetic lives (and enrich the union leaders).
You waste your valuable time commenting on this trash.
Hmmmm……back at me!